History of PopcornCorn has been basic food in South and North America for over 5,000 years. No one knows when primitive man first discovered that certain varieties of corn explode when exposed to intense heat, but it must have been a significant advancement to a people with only teeth and crude grinding tools.
All the native Americans ate popcorn to some degree.
The ancient Inca and Peruvian civilizations used the colorful popcorn for both food and ceremonial decorations.
The oldest identified corn poppers have been found along the Northeast coasts of Peru and date from about 300 AD.
The oldest written record is from a Spaniard in 1650, who said that the Indians called the popped product “pisancalla.”
Early American settlers cultivated (flint-type) popcorn, which was used as a snack and breakfast cereal dent corn was used for corn flour and corn bread.
Many families owned corn poppers consisting of wire basket, with long wire handles tipped with wood, for holding and shaking popcorn over flames in fireplace.
A hot air process, with wire baskets shaken over a flame, was used.
In 1885, Charles Cretors left Decatur, Illinois for Chicago to become street vendor and develop peanut roaster.
A gasoline fueled wet (oil) popping machine which was also had a small compartment for roasting peanuts, was patented in 1893 and shown at the Columbian Exposition that year.
Passers by stopped to watch corn popping and purchase bags of fresh product for a nickel. These colorful machines were readily accepted by street vendors, circuses and carnivals for many years.
Another milestone on popcorn history at the 1893 exposition was the introduction of Cracker Jack caramel coated popcorn, the first commercially successful snack based on popcorn.
This product line, with the traditional small prize in the package, was purchased in 1899 by the nations largest food producer Frito Lay Company of Dallas, Texas.
History of Popcorn
